Feed-water purifier for boilers



(Model.)

0, A. FRENCH.

FEED WATER PURIPIER FOR BOILERS. No. 250,519. Patented Dec. 6,1881.

JWM Mfg-W4 UNTTED STATES PATENT OFEIQE.

CHARLES A. FRENCH, OF DAVENPORT, IOWA.

FEED-WATER PURIFIER FOR BOILERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 250,519, dated December6, 1881.

Application filed August .23, 1880. (Model) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES ALBERT FRENCH, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Davenport, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa.have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feed-WaterGenerators and Purifiers for Steam-Boilers; and I" do hereby declarethat the following is afull, clear, and exact description of theinvention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

Heretofore feed-water for steam-boilers has been only partially purifiedby compositions tending to filter, absorb, or collect only a portionofthe impurities,which, after a short time, lose their power ofabsorbing impurities and must be replaced or cleaned.

The object of my invention is to perfectly purify feed-water, and makethe operation continuous without any perceptible loss of heat, andprovide for a quick and speedy mode of removing the impurities as theyaccumulate; and it consists in forcing the feed-water into a chamberthat is surrounded by steam, causing the feed-water to be speedilyevaporated and condensed or absorbed by the steam in the boiler, leavingall the impurities in the chamber, where they can be blown out orspeedily removedby taking off the heads. I attain these objects by theapparatus illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

The figure represents a side elevation of the boiler and apparatus, inwhich- B is the boiler; e, the drum, into which the feed-water is pumpedto be evaporated. f is the outer drum or jacket. The drum lis to work inconnection with an injector, to have.

same result were the injector connected with the boiler; but this drummight be dispensed with if the pipe to is connected a little above thebottom, so as to leave some water in the drum c all the time.

To carry my invention into effect I place above the water-line a drum orchamber, e, (with or without a removable head of any desired shape orstyle,) and connect it at or near the bottom by a pipe, a, and extendupward higher than the drum or chamber, thence downward, and connectwith the boiler above the water-line. The upward bend in the pipe is toprevent the feed-water that is forced into the sediment can be blownout.

the drum from running into the boiler by gravity. I circumscribe thisdrum or chamber with another steam-tight drum, chamber, orjacket, f,leaving a steam-space between. I then connect the top or near the top ofthis outer drum or jacket,f, by a pipe, b, with the boiler above thewater-line, to supply the drum or jacket with live steam to keep theinner drum hot, and the bottom of the outerdrum, chamber, orjacket-Iconnect by a pipe, 0, with the boiler any place, so that the steam thatcondensesin the space between the two drums will run into the boiler bygravity.

If the pipe a is large enough, thejacketfmay be dispensed with, or thedrum 0 may be placed below the water-line; also, thejackctf, if thecondensed steam is kept pumped or drained out of thejac-ket f; also thepipe to may lead out from the dome, ifit is higher than the drum e, andthe upward bend in the pipe a dispensed with by putting a porouspartition in the pipe a, to keep the water from running through and yetallow the steam to go through.

The drum 6 may be dispensed with by making the pipe a large enough, andextending it upward in place of entering the drum e, and closing the topend of the drum 0.

The feed-water is forced into the chamber 0, (through the pipe d anddrum 1, which is always full,) the water rises in the chamber or drum 0,and, being surrounded by steam, is soon heated ashot as the water in theboiler B, and hot steam coming from the boiler B through pipe at comesin contact with the water in drum 6, absorbs it, and carries it overinto the boiler B, leaving every particle of impurity in the inner drum,0, where, by opening a cock in the pipe m and closing the cook 70, Byopening the cock h the water can be blown through and rinse or wash itout; or steam may be allowed to blow through the pipe at for the samepurpose; or the drum may be cleaned anytime, without blowing off thesteam in the boiler, by closing the cocks h ij k and taking off theheads. I have found that water in the drum 6 will be carried over in theshape of steam, (whether the cock his open or closed,) and settle in theboiler.

The drum 6 and jacket f may be placed with their axes on a level plane,so the drum 0 can be rotated to prevent the sediment from settling sofast, and the connection made through the axes by steam-tight joints,but the pipe a would have to have a downward bend, so as to bring thesteam in contact with the water at the lowest point in the drum 6.

The feed-water may be heated by exhauststeam or otherwise in any mannerbefore it is forced or injected into the drum e, to save fuel.

I am aware that prior to my invention S. A. Goodwin and J. 0. Juice,April 1, 1879, patented an apparatus consisting of a drum connected atthe top with top of boiler and the bottom with the bottom of the boiler,and the feed-water forced in at the top falls on a series of shelves, isheated more or less, the balance of the water falls into the bottom,stirs up and mixes with the sediment, and overflows and runs into theboiler through the pipe, running always downward from the bottom of thedrum with the bottom of the boiler, while mine has an upward bend; buttheirs is not perfect in its operation, for the foam and spray producedwill go into the boiler, and if the water is pumped in too fast willchill the apparatus and run into the boiler with its sediment. It makesuse of the steam to heat iron shelves, and depends on them whilefallingthrough the steam to heat the water.

It is evident that the drum cmight be placed in chimney or smoke arch orexhausting steam, where the heat would aid the operation, and thusdispense with the outer drum or jacket, f. All the water that condensesin the jacket is the same as so much pure water pumped into the boiler.It will be seen that the pipe a can be connected anywhere on the drum 6.As long as there is a place in the pipe that is higher than the top ofthe drum 0 the water cannot run into the boiler by gravity; also, thatthe pipe I) might be dispensed with by making the pipe 0 large enough tosupply steam and also carry off the condensed steam; or this jacket maybe secured permanently to the boiler, and a series of holes in thepartition, or no partition between the bottom of the inner drum and theboiler.

I do not claim the process of evaporation and distillation.

I claim- 1. The process of purifying feed-water for steam -b0i1ers,consisting in conveying the steam into a receptacle having a feed-inlet,whereby the water is generated into steam or absorbed by it, asdescribed.

2. The process of feeding steam-boilers by confining the feed-water in areceptacle, and causing live steam to circulate into the feedwater,generating it into steam and conducting it into the boiler in the shapeof steam, as described.

3. The combination of a boiler with a steam pipe or passage leading to areceptacle having

